1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus and a display method, which display an item list component including at least one scroll indicator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Components in graphical user interfaces (GUIs) include pop-up menus which are used for selecting an item and in which selection items are listed. FIG. 2 shows a display example of such a pop-up menu. Referring to FIG. 2, the pop-up menu includes three items that are displayed at a coordinate (X, Y) in a screen having a width SW and a height SH. The pop-up menu has a height H. A left scroll button 200 and a right scroll button 201 are disabled (displayed in gray) because left and right scrolling is not required. If a desired item is selected or a position other than the position where the item is located is selected to shift focus, the pop-up menu closes.
The components used for selecting an item include components in which an item is selected from a pull-down menu. Such a component is referred to as “Choice” (also called as a selection box or a combo box). In the Choice, a selected item is displayed like a button (referred to as a “title button”). Pointing the title button displays a pop-up menu above or below the title button. FIG. 3 shows an example of the pop-up menu.
Referring to FIG. 3, component 300 is a Choice. In the example in FIG. 3, a state in which a title button (“abcd”) 301 with a down arrow is pointed to display a pull-down menu (pop-up menu) 302 is shown. Component 303 displayed on the right hand of the pull-down menu 302 is also considered a Choice. The pop-up menu of the component 303 closes and only a title button (“abcdefg1”) is displayed.
If a desired item in the pull-down menu 302 is selected, the selected item becomes a title button and the pull-down menu 302 closes. If a position outside of the pull-down menu 302 or the title button is pointed in this state, the pull-down menu 302 closes.
In contrast, an item list component (referred to as “List”) in which an item can be selected among multiple items that are always listed does not close, unlike the Choice and the pop-up menu. Accordingly, multiple items may be simultaneously selected. FIGS. 4 to 7 show display examples of the item list component.
When the pop-up menu or the Choice includes both vertical (up and down) scroll buttons and horizontal (right and left) scroll buttons, the arrangement of the horizontal and vertical scroll buttons is set in advance. For example, the horizontal scroll buttons are arranged on the lower part of the pop-up menu or the Choice (refer to FIGS. 2 and 4 to 7) and the vertical scroll buttons are arranged in the rightmost part of the pop-up menu or the Choice (refer to FIGS. 4 to 7). In other words, the arrangement of the horizontal and vertical scroll buttons is determined independently of the position of the pop-up menu or the Choice.
When a touch panel is used as an input device, not a scroll bar subjected to drag operation, but the scroll buttons indicating the scroll direction is suitable because a user presses each button in the touch panel with his/her finger to point the button. Since the scroll buttons are required to have a size corresponding to the tip of a finger at a minimum, the scroll buttons disadvantageously occupy a larger space.
If a menu window extends beyond the right edge of the screen, the scroll bar in the rightmost part of the menu window is hidden and is disabled. In order to resolve this problem, a manner of shifting the scroll bar to a visible area in the rightmost part of the screen is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-290574 (if the menu window extends beyond the bottom edge of the screen, the scroll bar is shifted to the bottom of the screen).
In the pop-up menu or the Choice, if the character string representing the content of an item is too long to extend beyond the display frame, part of the character string of the item is abbreviated to “ . . . ”. For example, when there is an item “abcdefghij” and the last “efghij” is hidden, the item “abcdefghij” is displayed as “abcd . . . ”. Alternatively, the item may be displayed as “ab . . . ij”, in which the central part of the item is abbreviated.
As described above, since the hidden scroll bar is only shifted inside the screen in related arts, there are problems in that information hidden behind the shifted scroll bar cannot be selected and the visibility is reduced. If the horizontal scroll buttons are fixed in the lower part of the pop-up menu or the Choice despite the fact that the pop-up menu or the Choice is arranged in the lower part of the screen, the horizontal scroll buttons hide several selection items. In addition, in this arrangement, only a smaller number of items are displayed, thus reducing the visibility.
If the vertical scroll buttons are fixed in the rightmost part of the pop-up menu or the Choice despite the fact that the pop-up menu or the Choice is arranged in the rightmost part of the screen, the number of visible characters in each item is decreased due to the area occupied by the vertical scroll buttons. Hence, if the items have the same displayed character string, except for the hidden characters, there are problems in that the difference between the items becomes indistinguishable and that the user cannot determine which item is to be selected. In addition, since the display area of the scroll buttons cannot be shifted depending on the content of the item, the area occupied by the scroll buttons may hinder the items from being distinguished. Even if the items can be distinguished, the number of displayed items or the number of characters in each item is limited and, therefore, the visibility is reduced.
If the content of items is abbreviated to certain characters, such as “ . . . ”, and the items have the same content after the abbreviation in the List because the content of the items extends beyond the display area, the difference between the items can be indistinguishable which can be problematic and confusing to the user.